First Encounters: The Mysterious Miss F
by JoySeph13
Summary: Augh, school is such a bore. my classmates are okay, and the mentors are "Eh". But that was until I met a certain somebody. Somebody that always makes me feel good when I'm around them. The Universe has got to be the worst class, I ditch it whenever I can. In fact, that's exactly what I was doing when I first met the new girl. Sophie Foster.
**Author's Note: This is an idea I've been thinking about for quite a bit, It's Keefe and Sophie's first meeting from Keefe's POV! A majority of the dialogue has come strait from the book, and so do the characters. Disclaimer- I don't own neither. The only thing from my own imagination is Keefe's thoughts (even though I don't think Keefe would like that very much, lol). This _is_ one-shot, but if this story get's a positive enough response, then I'm contemplating doing other character's first encounter's, and adding them as installments as their own one-shots (if that makes _any sense)_ Please review, for they always brighten my day, and inspire me to write more. Ilyssm, JoySeph13**

* * *

I'm lying on one of the benches in the Foxfire with my legs up, just chillin', when I first spot her. She's walking around like she's in some sort of daze, deep in her thoughts.

 _Must be the new girl_ I think, watching her for a minute or two before I say anything. "You must be lost"

That pulls her from her reverie, her head whipping around, looking for the source of my voice. Her eyes settle on me, "How did you know?"

 _She's cute_ I smile at her, then explain to her, "It's the middle of session. Either you're lost, or you're ditching—And clearly you're not ditching.

"Why wouldn't I be ditching? She challenges me.

 _Yeah, she's definitely cute,_ "Are you?" I ask, still confident that I guessed correctly the first time.

"No" _knew it!_

I try to repress my grin, but fail. I decide to ask the obvious, "You're the new girl, aren't you?"

She sighs, as if expecting me to ask that question, and nods.

"I'm Keefe"

"Sophie" She introduces herself, which she realizes is kind of unnecessary, considering that literally the whole school knows who she is.

I laugh anyways, "You must be the biggest news to hit the academy since the 'Great Gulon Incident' three years ago— which, by the way, I had _nothing_ to do with." I inform her. I can't help but grin devilishly— that _was_ my best work to this day, ya know! "But, That's not a bad thing. Personally, I've always enjoyed being the center of attention.

She gives me a once-over, probably taking in my oh-so-awesomeness. She starts to ask me something, then changes her mind. "Where are you supposed to be?" is what she apparently settles on asking me instead.

"The Universe, I ditch whenever I can. Lady Belva has the _worst_ crush on me. I mean, can you blame her?—" I wave my hands to myself as if to say _Duh_ "—But still, it's awkward, you know?"

She looks at me uncertainly, unsure if I'm joking or being serious. _Her hesitance must mean she thinks I'm hot, guess she's digging the Keefster..._ I smirk, "And now I get to meet the mysterious new girl. So I'd say that ditching paid off pretty well."

I see a blush starting to creep up her face, but I pretend not to notice it. "I'm hardly 'mysterious'".

I digress, "I don't know. You won't tell me why you're not in session— don't think I haven't noticed!" I remind her

She mumbles, "That's because it's too embarrassing..." The looks down at the ground, not wanting to meet my eyes.

 _Ha!_ "I love embarrassing!" I laugh again when she doesn't answer, "Will you at last tell me where you're supposed to be?" I plead with her.

With a deep sigh, she "Alchemy with Lady Galvin."

"Ugh, she's the worst. I had her as a Level Three— and she hated me, probably because I turned the lab to silver. But... she said she wanted me to impress her" I give her a wink. "Still, I wouldn't mention that we're friends, if I were you."

My saying that we're friends seems to startle her. _Whatevs, deal with it, Foster. I'm going to be hanging around a lot now._ "So, what, did Lady Galvin kick you out, ot something?" I press her for information on what she _possibly_ could've done to get one of the hardest mentors mad at her so soon.

"Kind of"

"Now this, I _have_ to hear."

"You're going to laugh at me," she warns me.

"Probably," I agree, grinning.

Seeing that I wasn't going to relent anytime soon, she tells me. "I accidentally exploded the serum I was making." Her eyes fixated on the hem of her robe.

 _Okay, well that was definitely worse than I thought she could do. "_ Did you do any damage?" I manage to ask between my laughing fits.

"Only to her cape—"

 _Wait, did she say Lady Galvin's CAPE!?_ "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Do you have any idea how epic that is?! That cape is her pride and joy! Did she send you to Dame Alina's office?

"No, she sent me to the Healing Center; a little of it got on my hand." She holds up her hand for me to see the raw, red splotch on it.

 _Holy crap, how is she just taking that pain in?!_ "Wow, most girls would be crying about a wound like that— most guys too. Even I would be playing it up for the sympathy and stuff."

"It must look worse than it is," she argues.

"Still, don't you think you should get it treated?"

"I guess so," she replies, her face paling considerably.

I laugh, "You just turned whiter than these walls. What's wrong?"

"Nothing"

 _She's terrible at lying,_ _I wonder what she's not telling me._ Intrigued, I link my arm in hers and pull her along with me before she can protest any more. "Come on, then. I'm taking you to the Healing Center so you don't get lost again.

* * *

While I'm half dragging her down the hallways of Foxfire, I can't help but notice how pretty she is. Sure, her eyes aren't the typical blue shades you normally see around her, but the brown color really does suit her. Especially with her gorgeous blonde locks that _might_ even look better than my own- and that's saying a lot.

She catches me glancing at her, and I give her one of my oh-so-confident grins, as if to say _'chill, you're in good hands now'_

* * *

we get to the Healing Center, and right away Elwin seems surprised to see us, especially Sophie.

"Sophie? I figured that I'd have to drag you back here to check up on you."

I look at her quizzically _Oh, so it's no shock to him that you didn't want to come... Man, it's times like these when I wish I were a telepath like my best friend, Fitz._

"I know. I have a tiny burn I need you to treat- no big deal."

"Well let me check it out." Elwin tells her anyways, causing Bullhorn, the screaming Banshee, to scurry across the room.

"Don't mind Bullhorn, he's harmless," Elwin reassures Sophie, as she eyes the long, slinky animal warily.

"What _is_ he"

"A Banshee. Adorable, isn't he?"

I laugh as Bullhorn tries to bit at her, but fails.

"What brings you up here, Keefe?" Elwin asks me

"Just helping out a fellow prodigy, sir" I answer back, gesturing toward Sophie and her wounded hand.

"I notice you've had to miss your session to do it," He raises his eyebrows at me, grinning, not missing a trick.

"I know, such a shame." I loop my arm over Foster's shoulders, "But, Sophie needed help, So what could I do?

"'What could you do', indeed" Elwin chuckles. "And I suppose you'll be wanting a pass to excuse you?"

 _He knows my methods well,_ "What a great idea" I agree enthusiastically.

"You always have been one to seize an opportunity," he sighs, handing me my pass. "Session won't be over for another half hour. So I'd walk slowly if I were you.

 _Wait! I'm not leaving Sophie quite yet!_ "Oh, I can't leave yet— not until I know Sophie will be okay." _smooth, man, smooth_ I mentally face-palm myself for appearing over-eager. Fortunately, though, Elwin's attention has already been turned over to the wound at hand, err- _ON_ hand, haha.

I see Sophie's hand tremble a little as Elwin inspects it. "This looks like an acid burn. How did you manage that?" Elwin says after a moment.

"Um, slight accident in my alchemy session," she squirms uncomfortably.

I jump right in with my own rendition of the explosion, with my hands waving and sound effects; the works. "Destroyed Galvin's cape."

Now that makes Elwin laugh, which he quickly tries to repress when he sees Sophie's expression. "Wish I could've seen _that!_ have a seat so I can treat it."

He leads Sophie to one of the bunks he has set up, and selects a jar from his stock of salves and balms. I see her hand tense up when he rubs the ointment on her hand. "Out of curiosity, how did you explode he serum?" Elwin asks her.

"I'm not sure. I measured everything twice, and added it in the order I was supposed to. But when I whipped it, it exploded." Sophie explains slowly, thoughtfully.

 _Wait—_ "Whipped it?" I ask, confused. _since when have we ever been instructed to WHIP something in Alchemy?_

"Yeah! At first I thought is said 'whap', but I figured I read it wrong, so I whipped it." _Ohhhhhh_

Elwin and I exchange looks before we both start cracking up. I try to get a hold on myself before I tell Sophie what it meant, "WHAP means 'Wash Hands And Present'" I explain the acronym to her between fits of laughter.

Elwin tries to comfort Sophie by saying that it was an honest mistake, and could've happened to anyone.

 _But it didn't. It happened to her._ There's no way I'm going to let her hear the end of this. With Foster around, foxfire may become one of my new favorite spots. "This is gonna be epic! I can't _wait_ for tomorrow!" I exclaim, whooping.

 _Oh yeah, this one is definitely gonna be a keeper._


End file.
